Sharing an idea

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mikefamig

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Jul 10, 2017
299
Connecticut
Is anyone getting tired of measuring 10ml of water every time they check their chlorine? I check my chlorine twice a day and I'm tired of trying to pour just the right amount of water into the little test vial.

Up until now the easiest method I've found to get a consistent amount of test water with the least amount of effort is to use a cheap plastic veterinarian syringe to draw water from the pool and then squeeze out the dose that you need. The problem with this is that the cheap plastic syringes do not last. After a short while they become very hard to slide and the measurement on the outside wears off.

Well I just had an idea that I think will be much easier. I am using a speedstir and I'm going to order a new plastic vial for it. When it gets here I'm going to drill holes in it at the 10ml mark. Then just dip it in the pool or pour water into it from whatever container I collected the sample with and I'll have instant 10ml. Another benefit is that I'll get the same size sample every time. I'm a little concerned that the stirrer will make the water spill out but if I use small enough holes I think that it will be fine.

Just thought that I'd share the idea.

Mike.
 
Let us know how it works out.

My concern, like you said, is water sloshing out oqf the holes during the testing.
 
If you drill the holes, be sure to drill them at the water line after you add the stirring bar. Otherwise the level will rise when you add the bar and the sample will be smaller than it should be.
 
AND if you drill larger holes but drill them at a point where the water intentionally splashes out but the water that is left is EXACTLY 10 mL, then problem is still solved. The SpeedStir should rotate at the exact same RPM rate each time it runs so I believe that should be possible. Don't know for sure, I'm just guessing.

"But will it actually work??"

Mr. B. -- "I'm just the idea man!! Don't trifle me with details!!
 

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JohnT said:
If you drill the holes, be sure to drill them at the water line after you add the stirring bar. Otherwise the level will rise when you add the bar and the sample will be smaller than it should be.
Click to expand...

Another thought: as soon as you start adding regents to the sample, the level will go above the drilled holes and spill out. Not sure how accurate the test would then be. :?:
 
OK I have an idea to address all of your concers about the water spilling out when stirring.

I will take plastic water vial and drill the holes at 10ml. Then just pour that water into the speedstir vial and be done. I could also do other sample sizes with a few cheap plastic tubes.

Mike.

- - - Updated - - -

mikefamig said:
OK I have an idea to address all of your concers about the water spilling out when stirring.

I will take plastic water vial and drill the holes at 10ml. Then just pour that water into the speedstir vial and be done. I could also do other sample sizes with a few cheap plastic tubes.

Mike.
Click to expand...

Maybe better yet just saw them off at the desired level. Or maybe I can just buy a set of metric measuring cups?
 
Too Funny!
So all this just to avoid pouring water into a small vial. :stirpot: Sorry I don't mean to be rude.
I use a long thin pvc pipe to draw the water out of the pool, dump it into a squeeze bottle and then from the squeeze bottle top shoot the water into each one of the vials and tubes for testing. Easy peazy. The other way would be more work for me.
Hope you find an easy solution that works for you. :wave:
 
mariane said:
Too Funny!
So all this just to avoid pouring water into a small vial. :stirpot: Sorry I don't mean to be rude.
I use a long thin pvc pipe to draw the water out of the pool, dump it into a squeeze bottle and then from the squeeze bottle top shoot the water into each one of the vials and tubes for testing. Easy peazy. The other way would be more work for me.
Hope you find an easy solution that works for you. :wave:
Click to expand...

You're right, I overthink things all the time, it's a hobby. It's' fun to think it through and sometimes it ends up with something that was worth the time.
 
I think that the funny part is that I thought that I had an ingenious idea to drill holes in a vial and after throwing it out here it came around to buying a 10ml measuring spoon. Sometimes bad ideas turn into better ideas that turn into good ideas.

Mike.
 
mikefamig said:
You're right, I overthink things all the time, it's a hobby. It's' fun to think it through and sometimes it ends up with something that was worth the time.
Click to expand...

King of the Overthinkers here. This is the second time in as many days that someone has dared to threaten my throne. Back off man!!

I can send you to some crazy threads if you question my lineage!!

This is what has worked for me, ala mariane's idea:

The one thing that Leslie's Pool Stores offers that is worthwhile is their little sample water bottle. It's free. They want you to have one! It's just about the right amount of water to perform all the tests, and it has a very handy squeeze top that makes dispensing water into the test vial very easy and accurate. Guaranteed to be more accurate than anything you're working on (sorry), but the holes in the vial are not going to work. They'll either be too small and not drain due to water tension, or too big and leak water and reagents in a way that will skew results.

Are you using a SpeedStir? (Spend your time and effort procuring one of those if you don't already have one, instead of your Holy Grail.)

Put the test vial on the SpeedStir, sans pellet, turn on the light, squirt Leslie's bottle into the test vial. Done. The light makes it quite easy to see what you're doing. Accurate. Way faster than anything you'll get out of your holes, etc. Probably faster than the Sample Sizer, too (though to be fair I've never used one).

And I'm not promoting sloppy testing, you definitely want to refine the task as much as you can, but the bottom line: most of the Taylor reagent tests can be off by up to 10%, some much worse, so you don't have to worry so much about being off by a tiny bit when measuring your test sample.
 
Dirk said:
King of the Overthinkers here. This is the second time in as many days that someone has dared to threaten my throne. Back off man!!

I can send you to some crazy threads if you question my lineage!!

Put the test vial on the SpeedStir, sans pellet, turn on the light, squirt Leslie's bottle into the test vial. Done. etc. Probably faster than the Sample Sizer, too (though to be fair I've never used one).The light makes it quite easy to see what you're doing.
.
Click to expand...

I do use a speedstir but I should have mentioned that my old eyes can barely see the markings on the speedstir vial.

Mike.
 
mikefamig said:
I do use a speedstir but I should have mentioned that my old eyes can barely see the markings on the speedstir vial.

Mike.
Click to expand...

Same here. I do wish those vials had black markings. Have you tried adding water to the vial with the vial on the SpeedStir with the light on? That solved the visibility issue for me... I first tried inking the lines with a Sharpie but that didn't work well...
 

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